Martinez sees red in MLS Cup semi final after VAR review

Houston Dynamo midfielder Tomas Martinez received a red card in yesterday’s Western Conference Semi-Final second leg in Seattle after the Video Assistant Referee helped identify an incident of violent conduct.

Halfway through the second half, Sounders’ midfielder Jordi Delem won a free kick after a collision with Martinez. Delem landed on the Dynamo player which invoked a reaction which saw Martinez appearing to hit Delem in the back of the head. Sounders’ Joevin Jones then enters the melee pushing away Martinez.

After the Video Review, a red card was shown to Martinez, sending the Dynamo down to 10 men for the remainder of the match. Jones also received a yellow card for pushing Martinez after the play.

Seattle were four goals to the good on aggregate at this point and wen on to add another to their tally finishing game 5-0 winners. They will now look for a second succesive MLS Cup as they go on to face Toronto in a repeat of last years final.

Following that game, join former Premeir League Assistant Referee Guy Beale and former Head of Women’s Refereeing at FIFA referee Sonia Denoncourt for an MLS Podcast discussing this incident and much more as they review the 2017 MLS season.